BOOK REVIEW

COMMON GROUND (A SONG BOOK FOR ALL THE CHURCHES), St

Andrew Press, Edinburgh, March 1998, words & music £18.50.

This is an interesting publication, not least for the claims that are made by its

editors, as well as for the Notes accompanying some of the 150 items of praise

contained therein.

In setting out its stall, the editors state:

"choruses and praise songs already widely known and memorised, were, in the main, excluded in order that newer material might be published."

If only this statement were true. There are twenty-two well-known "praise

songs" which appear in many publications. These include: Amazing Grace; Be

still, for the presence of the Lord; Bless the Lord (Taizé), Eat this Bread

(Taizé), For the fruits (though the inclusion of the tune: East Acklam is to be

welcomed); Great is Thy Faithfulness; Here I am, Lord; How great Thou art;

Jubilate, Everybody; Kyries (Russian Orthodox); Lord, for the Years; Meekness

and Majesty; Night has fallen; O Lord hear my Prayer (Taizé); One more Step;

Restore, O Lord; Shine, Jesus, shine; Spirit of the Living God; Stay with me

(Taizé); The Lord's my shepherd (Brother James' Air); The Servant King;

There's a Spirit in the Air (but why no descant ?); We are marching in the

Light of God; Will you come and follow me ?; You shall go out with Joy.

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The apparently random use of upper and lower case letters in the titles adds to

this book's uniqueness.

In their enthusiasm to encompass the World Church, the Editors have given to

us, rather curiously, a Celtic Alleluia from Lourdes (Were there Celts in

Lourdes with the blessed Bernadette ?).

In addition, the notes accompanying either the words or the music make

fascinating reading, eg:

90 congregations in the USA have no difficulty in mastering the whole song, so,

by implication, congregations in Scotland ..

92 The increasing frequency of adult baptism requires (sic) that churches have

suitable hymns, of which this is one. Firstly, there is no mention anywhere in

the hymn that this is an adult being baptised, and secondly, our own Common

Order states "only one Form and Order (for Holy Baptism) has been provided,

adapted for children and adults" (p. xiv) suggesting that the sacrament applies

equally to children as well as adults, so why provide a particular hymn which

allegedly encompasses adult baptism.

96 This very rhythmic song is confusing only on paper ! It must be sung

unaccompanied.

97 As a contrast to unison singing, verse 2 may be sung as a duet with the

second part provided by the lower treble line. (Why verse 2 ?)

99 When sung in 4 parts, ensure that basses and tenors are at ease singing

major 7ths against the soprano line

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101 This acclamation (Peruvian Gloria) cannot be accompanied. It must (sic)

be sung a capella. All that is needed is for the congregation to be divided into

three sections. Everyone imitates the cantor for the first two musical phrases.

Then each section is given a line in turn by the cantor which it continues to

sing at the same pitch until all three parts are in harmony.

107 Sanctus and Benedictus said or sung in all traditions during the prayer

which precedes Communion.

Liturgically, they are not. If we again examine Common Order we find that

following the Benedictus comes the epiklesis then (25) The Lord's Prayer, then

(26) The Fraction, then (27) Agnus Dei (which is said or sung in all traditions)

and only then comes the Communion. This note displays a lack of liturgical

scholarship. (Though the note at 3 - Agnus Dei - is correct.)

109 It may seem unusual in one collection to have two (sic) hymns which allude

to the Holy Spirit in the feminine. This is not to say that the Spirit is a woman,

but to encourage deeper thinking about the nature and work of the Spirit.

Cross-referencing, we discover in 32 the note that In Aramaic and Hebrew, the

Holy Spirit is referred to by female pronouns. It is a pity that the editors did

not find time to cross-reference their own collection, for in Common Ground

there are, in fact, three hymns which allude to the Holy Spirit in the feminine,

namely 32, 88 as well as 109

13 It is frequently and wrongly assumed that this text (Behold the Lamb of

God) alludes to the Crucifixion. It was actually said of Jesus before his baptism

(but only in St John's Gospel) This little verse can be used repeatedly

throughout a lengthy reading from the gospel or as an introit during Lent. The

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only lengthy reading from the gospel in Common Order is for Palm Sunday

(p623) (2nd ed) where under Years A, B and C one finds:

Year A

Year B Year C

St Matthew 26: 14-27:66 St Mark 14: 1 - 15:47 or 27: 11-54 or 15:1 - 39

(40-47)

St Luke 22: 14 - 23:56 or 23: 1 - 49

which immediately link it with the Passion, as does the season of Lent itself.

The inclusion of Liturgical Texts in a book of this type is odd (even odder

when the texts concerned are not consistent with ELLC (The English Language

Liturgical Consultation, 1988) - a frequent complaint in many congregations

seeking to promote ELLC is that the people never know which version of a text

is going to be used, so to include, as the editors have done, texts adapted from

the standard liturgical texts adds to the people's confusion). Or maybe the

approach adopted by the editors is insensitive to the current ecumenical re-

assessment of the role of the Eucharist as being possibly the goal of Christian

Unity or a means to achieving that goal.

Less convincing than the adaptation of standard Liturgical texts is the inclusion

of the Mallaig Sprinkling Song though the editorial note does concede that its

use is not confined to the rite of Sprinkling. Nevertheless, its inclusion sits very

uneasily alongside our Reformed concept of Baptism.

Reference to the Sprinkling Song leads to discussion of the purpose of

Common Ground. In the Preface John Bell states that:

"What has been less common (in major Christian traditions) is the will to work co-operatively in providing a book as ecumenical in its

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preparation as in its content. This book is the fruit of such rare co-operation."

Scottish Churches' Council did it in the 1970s with New Songs for the Church

edited by Erik Routley (a Congregationalist) and Reginald Barrett-Ayres

(Aberdeen University) with frequent ecumenical committee meetings at

Scottish Churches' House in Dunblane. This book was published by St Andrew

Press, the same publishers of Common Ground.

This is not the only extraordinary claim made. Mr Bell also states that

Common Ground takes over 20 per cent of its material from nations in the

southern hemisphere. In actual fact, there are only 20 praise items out of 150

which come from the southern hemisphere. In other words, 15 per cent come

from the southern hemisphere. It is a curious fact to discover with 91 (Now go

in Peace) that the tune `picked up from a multi-cultural neighbourhood in

Coventry" should be deemed to be "Caribbean". And what a shock it must

have been to Brian Wren to discover that he was American (57 - I come with

Joy) but a relief in 102 (Praise God for the Harvest) to learn his British

citizenship had been restored. Or is the territorial derivation based only on

tunes ? If it is, why is it that 92 (Now through the Grace of God) is deemed to

belong to England, having as its tune Strathcathro ? And if Fred Pratt Green's

For the Fruits of all Creation (34) were to be sung to the alternative tune Ar

hyd nos, as suggested, would that then make it Welsh ?

47 (Hear me, dear Lord) is attributed as belonging to Scotland, but is set to the

tune Londonderry Air.

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63 (Inspired by Love and Anger) is Scottish yet has an Irish folk tune !

80 (Love is the Touch) the tune Amor Dei is not Scottish but the author of the

words is !

There are a number of inconsistencies in this book which help make it unique,

not least in its almost excellent set of indices (including a welcome list of

addresses of copyright holders and administrators - some of whom have already

been contacted for permission to print the material), but it is a pity that there is

no alphabetical list of tunes.

Even the musical directions lack consistency, ranging as they do from:

"Unison" to "Gently" where there is no harmony and "At a steady pace" where

there is harmony.

There are some examples of excellent contemporary Christian poetry, notably

Jean Holloway's Forty Days and Forty Nights (37), Alison Robertson's

Haven't you heard (46), Douglas Galbraith's I've waited long (55) being a

paraphrase of the Nunc Dimittis and set to the tune Tam Lane shows real

understanding of Scottish culture and it is good that (Alec-sic) Alex Muir's tune

Bays of Harris, having already been hi-jacked by the Free Church, has found its

rightful place in this volume. Nevertheless, it might have been better if more

genuinely Scottish folk tunes had been utilised (eg. Fàghail Steornabhagh) for,

quoting from the Preface of a volume published by the then Committee on

Publications [Public Worship and Aids to Devotion] in 1935:

Research seems to indicate that the fundamental emotions,

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in Gaelic music at least, have selected for themselves appropriate intervals of sound which provide a universal musical language for the Gael - a language which links him with his fellow-countrymen in a communion of spirit which he senses but cannot analyse. These intervals, when linked together by different rhythms, produce a musical phrase vocabulary comparable to the language vocabulary. By repetition and combination of these phrases the folk-melody makes its appeal and secures its unity. Thus genuine Gaelic folk-melodies are in essence ideal hymn tunes because of their deeply rooted significance and introspective character."

An Laoidheadair , pub 1935

Common Ground seems to fail in that linking, when it uses tunes like Ye Banks

and Braes (138), Dream Angus (1) and Eriskay Love Lilt (76) which are all

redolent of the 1950s when Marjory Kennedy-Fraser, Tonic Sol-Fah and Sir

Hugh Roberton were in vogue and smack of the rather fey "Tartan and purple

heather, rain-drenched land and whisky-sodden people" image of Scotland.

Had they used Duncan Ban McIntyre's native island tune of Berneray or the

Harris Blacksmith, John Morrison's tune Heisgeir then the book now offered to

all the churches might have been more in sympathy with the Gael than it

prsently is.

Nevertheless, it was a delight to find 4 contributions from James MacMillan,

(arguably Scotland's premier composer) - but might it not also have been

profitable to have either consulted or commissioned Peter Maxwell-Davies

whose lyrical works might have provided an additional Scottish dimension (by

residence, not nationality) ? Farewell to Stromness could, quite easily, be

adapted and used as a hymn tune. To be fair, the editors did manage to find

two ancient tunes:

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Solas an t'saoghail (36) and Rodail (sic) (44). Had the editors been fully

consistent with their modernised form of Gaelic then they would have used

"Roghadal" as the correct Gaelic spelling.

Sadly, the two Gaelic hymns included appear not to have been proof read, since

the three last words of 56 should have graves and not acutes.

This attractively presented ring-bound volume containing 150 items of praise,

amongst them are 4 from Taize, 31 from Scotland, 22 from the USA, 3 each

from New Zealand and Zimbabwe, 2 each from Russia, Guatemala, Korea and

Malawi, 1 each from China, Germany, Peru, Chile, Wales and Argentina and a

massive 45 items of praise from the Wild Goose/Iona stable which,

unfortunately gives an imbalance to the book, off-set by its beguiling

photographs back and front of St Columba's Bay, Iona "common ground for all

Christians". This statement might antagonise those who argue for the primacy

of Ninian (if they are Celts) and might antagonise others who are Picts, or even

more so the successors of Augustine with whom Roman Catholics and

Anglicans might feel much more comfortable.

For the most part, the editors have endeavoured to provide a hymn-book with

melodies singable by most groups of people and have attempted to provide

music and words on facing pages, though 38 items fail and are on 3 if not 4

pages. Pity the musicians who have to cope with that.

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This book may have greater success than Hymns for a Day and Songs of God's

People, even though scholarship, as well as balance, seem to have been

sacrificed to enthusiasm, but what gives real cause for concern is the sad

thought, and concern, that the format and content of what might come to be

known as the future Revised Church Hymnary 4 will be influenced by this

volume.

TGL

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